Cruisin in Bali

Here's us zooming around outside of Ubud on our $3 a day motor scooter!

Riverside adventure

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Yesterday we decided to go for a walk in the morning. The guidebook makes that sound easy, but by the time we wandered into a private pool area for an expensive bungalow (thankfully unoccupied, as far as we know), encountered a young man who helped us find the real trail, and came upon the first gate through a small rice field and farm, where an old woman required some money for our passage, we realized that guides are probably just a better idea. The young man who had shown us to the trail had quietly followed us to the gate, where he explained that we either needed to pay at every gate, or maybe a better idea would be to pay him to guide us, and he would handle the trail finding and gates. Good idea.

And we're so glad we did! He showed us vanilla plants that were growing, pointed out the sweet potato, spinach, and cassava fields, showed us mangosteens, papaya trees, sugar palms, jackfruits, durians, and some delightful little plants that fold up their leaves when you touch them. He explained the system of canals and dams for irrigation to the rice fields, and told us about how they process the palms into sugar and alcohol. He climbed a tree (full of ants) to get us a fresh cacao pod, which he broke open so we could try sucking the sweet goo off of the fresh beans. We found pineapple and chili growing wild, and as we waited to ford the river to get back to where we started, he harvested us two coconuts so we could drink the fresh coconut water before we waded waist-deep through a strong current to reach the other side of the river... well worth the money!

We've decided to stay in Ubud for at least 3 weeks, because it is so ideal for our needs right now.. Brandon has about 20 internet connections to choose from, for all the computer work he needs to do to keep his business running, and our spacious two room apartment is ideal for acroyoga and poi practice. So now we have a home, and a motorbike that we've rented by the week, and we've settled in a bit.

New pictures here

We've moved into our new place- which is beautiful and spacious.. It's hard not to be overwhelmed by paradise all the time. We went to see the monkey forest today. I (Amy) always thought monkeys were kind of, well, I don't know, unattractive? But darn, they sure were cute and interesting today. Especially all snuggled up in the roots of strangler figs...

Beyond that, apparently we're internet junkies... I blame this on the importance of Brandon getting connected for business purposes. But it's fun to indulge, I'll admit it.

We're trying real hard to learn some Indoensian language, so we'll be prepared to buy food at the market tomorrow...

And we just found Indonesian micro-brew! This place is like living in the artsiest of resort towns in a tropical climate, with prices all divided by about 7. I love vacation.

Go see our trip photos

We are posting all the photos of our trip on Flickr.

Click here to see them

Arrived in Ubud

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After two days in the touristy frenzy of Kuta, we took a shuttle bus to Ubud, the "cultural center" of Bali. It's a relief to be here in many respects... a slower pace, wider streets, cooler climate (although still hot and sweaty), and different scenery. There are dances and shows every night, and accomodating hosts at the hotels- who will get you anything and everything you need. It's a bit strange how western the main streets of Ubud are though- filled with expensive shops like Ralph Lauren, Polo, Dolce & Gabana (I don't even know how to spell fancy brands like that..) I guess they're truly multi-cultural here, and they want to include 5th Avenue in their repertoire.

We arrived in a downpour, and as usual, someone on the street led us straight down a brick footpath to a cute and cheap little bungalow, with a HUGE bed and a hot shower, and my favorite, a little fishy pond with a tiny footbridge over it.

Last night we saw a performance of Kecak- which is monkey chanting, (lots of men in a circle chanting and singing and swaying in unison and in complex rhythms and layers) and Balinese dance. The costumes are impressive, and the dance is quite graceful.

We spent today searching for the "perfect hotel", and turned up a spacious 2-room place with a roof-top temple, grassy grounds for playing with our acrobatics and hoops, and even a small kitchenette (refridgerator and range). All for about $9/night. Wow. Thank you, exchange rate. We booked a week there, so we can take the time to explore Ubud, and figure out if we want to stay here, or perhaps head east to the coast and Lombok.

Amy's first...

Cool, Brandon just showed me how to use this, so I'm excited. Pretty soon here, we'll have pictures to post, and more stories to tell. So far, it's just been lazy mornings of sleeping off jetlag, swimming in the warm ocean, wandering narrow streets, and enjoying delicious food... not so bad.... Needless to say, we made it here just fine and we're having a great time so far!

Landed in Bali

We got into Bali yesterday after 23 hours of travel time. Wow, your butt can get soar sitting on a plane for 13.5 hours. Watched a few good movies, played some cards, impressed people in the Hong Kong airport with our acro-yoga postures and even got some applause!

We are staying in Kuta beach right now, absorbing the warm ocean water and tropical sun.

Amy's off sleeping right now and that's all I got until we go adventuring.